Digging Toward Daylight

Restoring once-progressive Wisconsin from the damage wrought by Gov. Scott Walker has become such a cause nationally it's easy to forget right-wing forces already were trashing the state's enlightened values before the governor ever showed up.

That fact came to mind as hundreds of gay couples joyfully lined up in New York to declare their love for each other in marriage like any other human beings.

New York was achieving that equal rights milestone the same week the nation's military began officially ending decades of discrimination against its gay soldiers.

New York was just the sixth state to legalize same-sex marriage, but there is no question that its residents and its Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo are on the right side of history.

There was a time when Wisconsin stood proudly and independently on the cutting edge of progressive states.

This state's achievements included a 150-year ban on the death penalty, the birth of public employee bargaining rights, being one of the first states to outlaw job discrimination against gay people, and one of only two states still maintaining a common sense prohibition against carrying concealed weapons in public.

Within months of Walker assuming office, that proud record is in tatters. Bargaining rights for public employees were destroyed. Illinois is now the only state politically courageous enough to stand against the proliferation of deadly weapons on its streets.

Perhaps all that prevented pro-death Republicans from reinstating capital punishment in Wisconsin was running out of time before recall elections and deciding it was more important to jam through a dishonestly drawn redistricting plan to try to rig future elections.

Putting Hate on the Ballot

Sadly, on allowing gays to marry those they love, Wisconsin can't hide behind the extremism of Scott Walker.

Back in 2006, pre-Walker Republicans cynically decided the way to defeat Democratic Gov. Jim Doyle for re-election would be to pump up the pro-hate and pro-murder votes.

They succeeded in scheduling voter referenda prohibiting gay marriage and ending the century-and-a-half ban on capital punishment on the same ballot as the governor's race.

The vote on capital punishment was a meaningless advisory referendum, which is another way of saying pointless. The fact that voters expressed a thirst for murdering people did nothing to start construction of gallows in public squares, for which civilized people everywhere can be grateful.

There really wasn't any point to the referendum opposing gay marriage, either. Gay marriage already was illegal in Wisconsin. It couldn't get any more illegal. The referendum was simply an opportunity for anti-gay voters to express their hatred anew.

But the truly vicious thing about the vote was that it took the form of an amendment to the state Constitution.

Constitutional amendments usually guarantee equal protection for everyone under the law. The anti-gay amendment to Wisconsin's Constitution was instead an un-American declaration that people who some didn't like shouldn't have equal rights under our laws.

The saddest part of the ugly spectacle was that some so-called leaders whipped up the anti-gay vote by wrapping themselves in religion.

No legitimate religion in the world is based on hate. Misrepresenting Christianity to preach hatred of people who are born with a different sexual orientation is no different than misinterpreting Islam to justify terrorism and murder.

Neither is it accurate to describe opposition to allowing gays to marry as a politically conservative point of view. As I've written before, the truly conservative position on gay marriage would be to insist upon it.

The political conservatives I grew up around in Indiana certainly would never be in favor of gays having sex willy-nilly without being married.

Gay couples entering into marriage are embracing the family values of one of society's most conservative institutions. True conservatives would welcome that.

No sooner did Wisconsin abandon its progressive traditions and deface its state Constitution with an amendment denying human rights than the rest of the country began moving in the opposite, more humane direction.

According to Gallup, a majority in the U.S. now supports legalizing same-sex marriage, compared to just 25% in 1996. The six states that have legalized such marriages so far include the lefty, radical state of Iowa.

Gov. Walker's slashing of funds for education and stripping public employees of rights along with Congressman Paul Ryan's advocacy of dismantling Medicare and Social Security have awakened Wisconsin voters to the political extremism that has seized control of the Republican Party.

But some of the ugly forces producing Walker and Ryan already were at work for years under the radar.

The clear path to restoring Wisconsin's tradition of decency starts with the Aug. 9 recalls to provide a check on Republican extremism in the Legislature, building toward a Walker recall starting in January and the 2012 presidential and congressional elections.

Then Wisconsin should restore human rights for everyone in its state Constitution.

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Joel McNally is a national-award-winning newspaper columnist and a longtime political commentator on Milwaukee radio and television. Since 1997, Joel has written a column for the Shepherd Express where he also was editor for two years.

Comments (6)

LGBT persons most certainly do not deserve the rig...

LGBT persons most certainly do not deserve the right to marry. Do I "deserve" the right to slide right into Muslim culture and continue to drink alcohol, watch Hollywood movies, listen to rap music and "allow" my wife to walk about uncovered? No, I don't "deserve" to force my way into a religion.The gay community made a terrible mistake when they decided to concentrate on marriage. I would have advised against that. What they really want are spousal rights- inheritance, hospital visitation, adoption, etc. And of course they do deserve (no quotes) those rights. What is needed is a reasonable, codified civil union. Leave the 4,000-year-old religious tradition (with a 50% failure rate) alone and focus on the rights you really want.By the way, each and every right the gay community wants is available to them through the use of a will and a financial adviser.

Anonymousmore than 6 years ago

Congrats. to all the newly married gays or anyone ...

Congrats. to all the newly married gays or anyone else that has gotten married recently. We all have the right to love that special person.....Walker hasn't taken that away yet? I don't care who is married to whom. Relax and be happy not your concern.

Anonymousmore than 6 years ago

If the real point was "inheritance, hospital visit...

If the real point was "inheritance, hospital visitation" and such, there are things called last will and testament, living wills, powers of attorney, naming beneficiaries, and these do not need a marriage and recognition of same to get these. I don't think that was ever the issue.I believe the gay marriage issue had a long term goal of adding a jobless sick partner to health insurance, as most employers insurance plans require legally recognized marriage as the only way to add a non-related adult to insurance coverage. But, come out with that request in the opening argument is a show stopper from the start. Better strategy was to start on the small items and "establish precedent" to finally make that big win.It's no different than what partisan politics does on many other issues. Get on that innocent, meaningless "slippery slope" until you finally get that slam-dunk victory that makes the private loser feel like a red-faced, public loser.This is Wisconsin people, this is human nature. Equality in any of its forms is an unacceptable, no-win outcome. The only way "winning" has any satisfaction at all is when there are many more losers. -- "Look what I have... and you don't!" (The "and you don't" part is where the satisfaction is.)

Anonymousmore than 6 years ago

@WuakeshaGuy- you're absolutely right. Every nigh...

@WuakeshaGuy- you're absolutely right. Every night before I go to bed, I exult in the fact that I have health insurance and some poor gay sap somewhere doesn't. You are so lost. Many insurers allow employers to make the call as to whether or not they will accept a "life partner" onto the plans they offer their employees.You just keep stereotyping, bigot that you are. Meanwhile, the rest of us will propose solutions, like the civil union, that actually move society forward.

Anonymousmore than 6 years ago

Sadly, I must agree with Joel that gays probably d...

Sadly, I must agree with Joel that gays probably deserve the right to marry. However, human rights must take a back seat to what the voters of Wisconsin want. The state makes it rules by electing people who will do what the majority feel what is right. Therefore we must follow the rules made by those in power who we have elected. Once those in office see that being opposed to some human rights will not keep the in office, they will simply change their attitude to keep their job, or someone else will get elected. Joel is just preaching to the choir.Obviously the majority of voters don't want gay marriage, collective bargaining, and strict gun laws. Thats why Walker was elected. Voters knew Walker would crack down on those things. Campaign contributors knew Walker would provide a return on their investent. What happened in Wisconsin was we took this progressive stuff too far. We had too many people on welfare, too many overpaid government workers which created an expectation of entitlement from too many citizens. The good people could see this was destroying their way of life so they simply voted in the conservatives. I think their hope was to make life so tough on the welfare and governent worker types they would get frustrated and move to othe welfare magnet states. The problem is those states are cracking down hard on welfare and union corruption too.Regarding the dealth penalty. We actually already have it. It's just not offically enfored. Remember Jeffrey Dalhmer?

Anonymousmore than 6 years ago

"Illinois is now the only state politically courag...

"Illinois is now the only state politically courageous enough to stand against the proliferation of deadly weapons on its streets."

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